


Our Ocean

by mmmrrrw



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Mer!Eren, Polyamory, like one mention of hanji but yeah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2201409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmrrrw/pseuds/mmmrrrw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>....it is blue, gray, and green. What is yours?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> it was supposed to be a prompt but it got a tiny bit out of hand okay

Erwin is an old friend of Levi’s. They spend their summer vacation at Hanji’s family beach house; Erwin working as a life guard during their summer as well. Levi would have also have signed up as one, if not for his fear of drowning. He stays as far as possible from the ocean, watching Erwin manage his job each day, hiding his head behind his book when he thinks he’ll catch Erwin’s eye.

One day, however, Erwin’s in the middle of swimming back, one child in his arms, and Levi’s blinking as he looks farther back to see a small girl struggling in the salty water. He stands immediately, first trying to tell Erwin about the girl, but eventually realizing that Erwin can’t hear him nor is he paying a bit of attention to him.

So with a stutter in his steps at first, he eventually hurries over, ridding himself of his shirt and diving into the water; immediately swimming over, since after all, he can swim, it’s just the endless water that terrifies him.

He reaches the girl, tightening his grip on her and keeping her above water as he struggles to get back to shore. When the realization of him being in the water and struggling hits him he ends up messing up his pattern of strokes, causing him and the girl to both end up nearly drowning.

'Nearly' said due to the fact that he didn't. He only knew that he'd woken up on hot sand and with a wet body, staring into Erwin's blue eyes as he was looked over. When he asks what happened, there's no clear answer, only that somehow from far off he'd managed to end up on the beach with him and the girl still alive.

It’s when he’s wandering off, days later that he gets his actual answer. A large splash as he’s set himself against a rock, a journal in his hands as he writes. He looks up, strange green eyes stare back. He moves his left hand to rub at his eyes for a short while before blinking twice and setting his journal aside. His gray eyes looking at the figure sitting in the water. The person tilts his head, his long, wet, dark brown hair following.

"What the fuck," Levi says aloud, leaning forward and looking to see that this guy has no legs… just a tail. "What the fuck," he repeats, and the boy frowns, looking at his own tail and then Levi’s pale legs before he dives back into the water, disappearing from sight.

"What the fuck," Levi still says, staring at the waves left.

 -

Levi’s rambling on his findings to Erwin on Hanji’s sofa. Lucky for him, she was out at the moment. There was no telling what she’d end up doing if she knew this kind of information.

"What you are trying to tell me is that you were saved by a mermaid?" Erwin asks, pausing in watching his show as he stares at Levi with bewilderment.

"Yeswell, _merman_. As in a guy anddon’t you dare give me that look like I’m crazy, Erwin!”

"Well… you are sure?" Erwin replies, not changing his look. "I mean, they don’t exist, Levi."

"Huh," Levi says, frowning. "Then why don’t you give me your explanation as to how I was saved when I was so far from shore?"

Erwin only shakes his head, motioning for Levi to continue with his talk.

 -

Days later when Erwin gets his day off, he comes with Levi to the spot behind the rock, the both of them interested in seeing this ‘merman.’ Erwin’s skeptical the whole time, asking Levi questions he knows the raven won’t be able to answer and it’s when they are both preparing to leave that a splash alerts them, Levi turning automatically and seeing the merman.

"Look there, blond shit," he says, eyes slightly wide as he tugs Erwin over to the edge carefully. "You thought I was fucking insane, huh? Well, look the tail fucker’s there!"

And Erwin stares the whole time, his own eyes wide as he takes in the merman, his strange green eyes and beautiful green-blue tail.

"You saved Levi?" He asks, leaning down so he’s eye level with him.

The merman blinks, tilting his head again as he darts his eyes from Levi and back to Erwin twice. He nods.

Erwin allows a small smile.

"Thank you."

The merman smiles back, a toothy grin, nodding rapidly.

 -

Eventually, it becomes a habit, the three of them meeting at that same spot every Monday, usually after Erwin’s shift is over.

The merman does not speak, the two don’t believe that he can, and so they make the conversation. Although, they’re not really sure if the merman can understand them.

Erwin hums, as Levi writes out a few sentences, the blond looks over at the merman who is watching the two of them intently. “Well, do you have a name?” Erwin asks, though understanding that he won’t likely get a reply.

The merman swims over, laying his upper half in the sand and moving his right pointer finger in it. Erwin moves over, watching with interest as the merman writes something out.

_EREN_

It’s crude looking, hardly readable at first, but Erwin thinks it over and the word comes out hesitantly as he looks up into those green eyes. “Er-en?”

He gets an enthusiastic nod in response, a big smile on the merman’s lips.

-

The two of them have both learned that Eren can indeed understand them, although it takes a while for their sentences to register in his mind. They also learned that Eren could reply to them, his words written in the sand with his fingers as he knew many english words, but only to a certain extent.

"Are there others like you?" Erwin asks, sitting near the water, quite close to Eren, and watching as the brunet moves to write.

_I don’t know._

"How the hell don’t you know about your own species?" Levi asks next, after reading over Eren’s answer.

Eren only shrugs.

The three of them fall back into silence, the waves sounding and the noise of Levi’s pencil moving against paper. Erwin’s watching the sky when Eren moves his tail to create a loud splash, catching both of their attention and directing it to the sand.

_Are you both together?_

Levi and Erwin stare at it a long while.

Levi looks up, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” He questions, leaning back on his hands. Erwin’s still staring at the message when Eren erases it to make another reply.

_You know, like in love and stuff?_

Levi takes this chance to stare at it a long while. Erwin’s the one to reply, “No.”

It breaks Levi’s heart how he doesn’t seem so hesitant to answer.

 -

Erwin’s working some other guy’s shift next week, so Levi and Eren are the only ones there that day. Levi hardly pays the merman any mind, instead he loses himself in his writing for a short while until he gets splashed with water, earning Eren his attention.

The brunet points at the sand repeatedly, and Levi sighs as he moves to read it.

He expected something more along the lines of, _‘Where’s Erwin?’_ Not this.

_Why aren’t you two together?_

Levi gives him a look, asking if he’s serious. Eren’s expression remains determined.

"Because we’re not."

_But you like Erwin?_

He’s momentarily stunned how Eren would be able to realize this when they’d only know each other for a little over a month.

"I do."

_And Erwin likes you?_

"No," Levi says, shaking his head.

Eren gives a confused look.

_Yes? He does?_

Levi continues to deny it.

 -

Levi and Eren don’t speak to each other the next time Erwin’s with them, leaving the blond confused.

"Are you two fighting?" He asks, looking between them.

"No," Levi replies, immediately, not looking up from his journal.

Eren’s face looks more sad than anything and Erwin moves over to him, hoping to find an answer.

Eren moves his hand in the sand slowly at first and then quick, he’s nearly finished when he suddenly erases his words, head down.

"Eren?" Erwin asks, staring at the brunet.

Eren lifts his head and writes again.

_You like Levi, right?_

"Of course." Erwin says, not understanding what this has to do with anything.

_So why does Levi think you don’t?_

What?

"What?" He repeats, a bit too loudly, meeting Levi’s gaze. "Levi? Why would you think that I do not like you?"

Levi feels that Erwin does not understand exactly what Eren is speaking of.

He doesn’t, really.

"He means in the romantic sense, dipshit." Levi replies, eyes looking back to his words on paper so he won’t see Erwin’s face.

He hears a quiet, “Oh.”

“‘Oh,’ he says,” Levi mumbles to himself, mocking Erwin.

"I… well, I do like you in that sense, too."

Levi shoots up, his journal falling into the sand. “What?”

Eren’s tail splashes in the water rapidly, spraying the salt water onto both the humans. He writes in huge letters.

_I TOLD YOU SO!_

He seems strangely proud of himself.

 -

Erwin and Levi eventually manage a date with each other, though they both end up saying that it doesn’t feel right for some reason.

They spend another Monday with Eren, both finding themselves more happy when the three of them are together.

 -

_Are you gonna kiss?_

Eren writes, looking between the two.

Levi and Erwin both give Eren another look.

_That’s what you do when you like a person, right?_

"Yeah," Levi replies, not looking up from the words. But Erwin sees as Eren smiles widely pushing himself up on his elbows and pulling Levi’s face in his hands, pressing his lips against Levi’s. There’s a surprised look on the raven’s face, but Eren pays it no mind as he moves to do the same to Erwin.

The two of them press their fingers to their lips after Eren disappears back into the water before they move to each other give one another a chaste kiss.

For some reason they both feel it’s right.

 -

The next week Erwin and Levi show up together at their same spot, only to find that Eren isn’t there. They both know how strange it is considering that Eren is always earlier than them.

They both spend time waiting for Eren to show up but he never does.

 -

The next Monday after that, Erwin shows up alone, waiting and hoping for Eren to appear, and he does. Quite late, though.

"Eren," he says, catching the brunet’s attention, "Where were you?"

_Sorry, I had to think about some things._

He didn’t say anymore than that. Erwin’s just glad he’s okay.

 -

Levi and Erwin are eating ice cream, watching as Eren doodles in the sand for a short while before moving to write words.

_What are we?_

"Hm?" Erwin hums, curiously, looking over the words. He doesn’t know what he could say to describe how he views Eren as another person in their relationship. How he sees Eren and Levi as both his most important people.

Levi gets straight to the point. “Well, what do you want us to be?”

Eren thinks it over for a long while, his eyes glaring at the sand before he replies.

_I like the both of you._

It’s a simple answer. “Then you have the both of us,” Erwin says, smiling as he presses a kiss to Eren’s forehead.

Eren’s eyes slide shut and he breathes out a soft sigh.

Levi moves to cup Eren’s cheek.

"I like your eyes," he says. It’s a fairly close confession.

Eren smiles widely. He can understand the double meaning in Levi’s words.

Erwin just says it out loud, a small smile on his face as he pulls back.

"I like you, Eren."

_Me too._

**Author's Note:**

> I'll check for mistakes another time, and maybe if I can think of something else I'll add more to this, but congrats to me for finally writing my ot3.


End file.
